Monday, February 13, 2006

Beautiful People

Well since everyone else has a blog, I guess it's my turn.

Sometimes when I start getting in a drawing rut by drawing my own cartoon characters over and over again I look to my favorite cartoonist for inspiration and new ideas. God. He is the funniest designer in history.

Cartoonists tend to get trapped in their own cliches after a while and the best cure for that is to do caricatures. But the trick for me is to empty my mind of preconceived notions of what caricatures should look like.

I love Mort Drucker and Hirschfeld and Covarrubias and used to copy them when I was a kid. But I quickly realized that trying to interpret what someone looked like through another artist's eyes just complicated matters.

I learned that my "style" should be the style of the person I am drawing. I try as hard as I can to tailor my drawing to the subject in front of me, rather than a preconceived style of caricature.

When I started doing this, I began finding all kinds of new shapes and forms which I could then in turn apply to my character designs.

I have 2 basic goals when drawing a caricature:1) Make it look like the person2) Make it funny

I don't always achieve these goals but that's what I strive for.

Here are some drawings I did of the most beautiful people on the planet.

Welcome to `Blogworld' John. I've found it to be mildly addictive, I hope you will as well. I'm really looking forward to your tips, comments,raves & rants etc. Not meaning to blow smoke up your arse but it's like sitting at the feet of a master (who also has nice smelling leather shoes).

Thank you for finally putting up a blog. These are some of the funniest damned caricatures I've seen in a long time. Very inspirational. I've never been a very good caricaturist, but you've inspired me to try, if only to shore up my skills as a cartoonist. Thanks again! John S.

Well man, you probably have zero rich fans who love cartoons and hate networks, but I bet you have literally millions of poor fans in that configuration. And if every one of them promised a bit of money, even just a couple of bucks - well then you'll have alot of broken promises. But some money too. Set up some kind of magic internet account and I'll give the first five bucks, dead serious.

I like how you take thier most distinguishing features and overly enhance them, then even the 'Beautiful People' become strangely grotesque.The art really captures what our eyes trace and memorize in these stars and makes us unable to look away. Like the aftermath of a celebrity doodle car wreck.Fun, accurate and funny. Nice job.

It's like when Satchmo was asked, 'What is the Jazz?" His reply: "If you have to ask you'll never know." Caricature is caturing humanity, twisting it out to an extreme that still captures essence of the person, and gives us a chuckle in that absurdity.

Im a big fan John, thanks so much for starting to blog. All your caricature's are simply to die for. :DCameron's smile is spot on, there are little things in each drawing that really distingishes them so you know who they are. Soooo cool to see, and look forward to more posts. Would love to see some of your process, if you had the time to post something like that.

Thanks for all the great storys! Im from Argentine, here your work have a lot of fans! You were for me a very important referent! You are like the Cezanne of the animation to me. Please im waiting to see more of your art. Which are your last projects? I believe that I speak on behalf of many people when saying that you are one of the greatest genius of animation!

Welcome to blog world John. Be interesting to see what happens. Some start bolg with gusto and drop out, others like me can't post enough. I hope your the latter. More John K stuff the better. You shouldn't have any trouble getting folks to post comments. I have to hustle a bit as most bloggers are cartoonists are bloggers, but Landscape painters are far and few. I still get letters from kids begging to talk to you. Now they should be in heaven. I guess we are supposed to know who everyone is in this first group or great drawings, but as an old fart I don't look at the young media kids very hard. I know some of them of course, That's Usher right? When you post can you write who is who? For instance, I've heard the name Scarlet Johansson and I think I've seen her briefly, but have no idea what she looks like. Maybe if you identify the drawings I can recognize them when I see them for real.

Hello there John, & welcome to the so-called blogosphere(sounds like a name you would make up)!Seeing these fabulous things just makes me all tingly. Thanks for starting up this funfest. I wish to god I was rich--I'd commission some 7 min. cartoons pronto.

Really nice work John! Cliche is the true enemy of every artist and it's always good to take a fresh look at life. Yeah, I'm interested in seeing more of your own productions(what ever you come up with). Maybe digital distribution through itunes, where you get direct payment for each toon with no middle men, could work. Best of luck and thanks for putting out the blog.

Hey John- Luke came over to pick up those not brand echh's and told me you have a blog. Anyway I'm glad there is a place to post your caricatures (I still laugh really hard when I recall your drawings of Maddox that you did last year). You should share one of your awesome tips on the subject. (Comparing 2 subjects at once to find the individual features faster).-cory

I always start caricatures by contemplating which feature in a person's face stands out most. I do a lot of authors and it helps a lot if I can find a streamed tv program and see them move. The woman I am doing now is all neck, she seems to look and talk with her neck. Once I realise something like that, the rest is easy.

mister kricfalusi! Just last nite I watched R&S DVD vol.1 special features of the character development sketches... and wellsir, I liked it. I liked it one bit. And now this morning cartoonbrew has you linked up, that's good stuff.

Hi John im from Ecuador and i think im your biggest fan over here hehe ,u are a great inspirattion 2 me yo up there whit all the Cartoon greats , Clampett , Tex Avery, Chuck jones, and u HOPE 2 see more cartoons from u ..and oh yeah if u wanna se how much u inspired me just like the other Cartoon greats like ..Bob Clampe... heheh just kiding heheh check my gallery out http://makinita.deviantart.com/ se ya arround man and thanks

My God, it's what I've been waiting for for years now! Thank you so much for finally uploading your work! I love what you have published so far... Your characterectures are different from many of the mainstream ones out there for the simple fact that they dare to be grotesque and exaggerated to the point that there's a beauty that comes out in them. The only way that this could get better is if you decide to publish a book of your work!

Who might your favorite cartoonist be, John? You mention having grown beyond the influences of Hirschfeld and Covarrubius long ago. The popular Ben Shenkman devolved into drawing people from the back, before his spine went. Back in the thirties he was all the hot crap. Dick Gautier wrote a book on the caricatures he does with a fat laundry marker. When it comes to caricature, the woods are full of bent bark. Your stuff remains a breath of fresh air because cartooning should be commentary.

I'm glad you got a blog. I sure miss Spumco website. Love all your work but it's difficult to catch it in spanish televisions. I actually would like to see a Jimmy The Idiot Boy cartoon for television (as far as I'm concerned there is only the flash episodes and his role in The Ripping Friends, apart from the comics and some commercials.) I would love to see a short about Jimmy and Sody Pop.

You captured Barbara Bush in all her immaculate 'beauty'. That is by far the best caricature of the woman I have ever seen - you brought her ugly 'insides' out - unbelievable, I could expound on this for pages, but I couldn't do it justice, the picture speaks for itself.

make a few photocopies of that and buy a box of watercolours and practice dabbing over the photocopies whatever colours you like. At least it might be a fun experiment.

Last year the DVD market went soft, causing all the media conglomerates to crap their pants even more than usual. The looming sea change of DVDHD and Blu-Ray will only add to this corporate bowel distress. However, after the end of Petroleum Man, everyone will be back to appreciating cartoons drawn with burnt charcoal twigs on pounded tree pulp, lit by candles, just how the Shakers intended.

What are ya???? Just dropped in and find this funny...So why are you not on myspace.com You should be ... Hopefully next time your up in Ottawa you'll give me a call ...Wake up and kill mr. YOU bastard!

Whilst your blog may have a smiliar template to mine, your's just goes to prove that some people have stuff worth blogging, whilst mine just proves that others should not be allowed within a 2 mile radius of a computer. I love your art...and your blog just adds to that. Oh to have something worth posting!

I really think that John K. needs to do a video podcast. It would be so awesome to see your cartoons again, with you having full creative control over them. It would take a lot of work to do but im sure you could find sponsors/donators to help the cause. What do you think?

I think that was the funniest thing I've seen in at least a couple of months. I'm honsetly really sore now from laughing.On a side note.... it's an honour just to See your blog and that you may even read this!

Cartoon cellphone casting is what the corporate smegma is lately slopping all over itself to climb aboard, but the sorry-assed likes of DIC and SABAN have beat them to it. Even Disney is leaping into that abyss, in a putrified reach for perceived Republican hipness. You can put them all to shame with sheer content, John.

Hi John,Welcome back. It's great to see your work on Adult Swim, any news on the R&S Adult Party cartoons? If Spike passes, go to Comedy Central. I'm also a Drucker fan but I would give my right nut (and a kidney) to draw like George Woodbridge.

those are really good!!! i almost pissed my pants laughing!! no worries, i'm still dry. you're my hero!! well, one of many heroes, but still a really good one on that list of many! so glad to see you here!! this is too exciting!! way cool!

I think you should publish a book.... I would love it!!! TV is great and all, but the networks would have even mroe reaosn to sign you up for a new cartoon if you were able to sell a book... and with marketing the way ti is today.... you could publish it yourself and sell it online in digital format if you like....

I was so glad to be pointed in this direction and see new work from you! As a fellow artist and the executive director of an online artist's community, I have a great deal of respect for originality when I see it, and yours is the real deal!

reaaly nice things,ow man you can learn a lot from this,i always knew is something missing about the disney,but the way Maestro John put it,is crystal clear. Dear Maestro John K,im amazed by the iddeas you get in all the cartoons,beyond is a really big form of inteligence.I am from Romania,but you dont get nothing about animation there.but you can get the coffe and the cigaretes at a realy cheap price.Im good with drawing,also i have some friends artists who really love cartoons,we save some money,and we want to start a small studio, 3 4 computers,2 or tree couches,a coffee machine and sharp pencils.I also have some idea,i made some cartoons,like cartoons for newspapers,i'll post it soon.My request is what it takes for the studio to become alive,what do we need,im realy determined about this.beside studiing hard and work hard.what else? A few advices from The Maestro it will really make us feel in power. Thanks,I really think you are a person who make it in the world of those who really matter. Beeing from a 3-rd world country,is so strange because i want to go in the world of animation with my drawning and may imagination skiils,the old pencil and the paper,old school,and not knowing so much about the new animation computer programs,but im not worried about that. Animators,use to make cartoons in the old days withou any tehnology. I also think this days,somehow people lost their imagination,I can see the results on today's movies,or today tv cartoons,videogames and so on.is pure stupidity,and that is so sad.Also the music was great back in the old days,and people put soul when they made a cartoon or a song. People use to make fun about me and call me a kid when i just stare at the looney toones,and can get enough of the episode-bugs bunny get the boyd.and the ren and stimpy is like beyond laughing.i just can laugh no more im in some kind of laughing nirvana zone or something like that.they make fun about me,but people just dont realize that the really caracters in the cartoons are they,and that make-s it twice as funny. I hope that oneday people look more deeper in the cartoons.those cartoons make me to type in english right now.